News item | 16-05-2022 | 09:30
Last Friday, the Council of Ministers approved the establishment of the Lawyer Services Commission to the State. This commission of inquiry will look at the way in which central government should be advised and assisted in future in matters that require independent legal representation or assistance. The Commission has been asked to provide insight into the reasons that the state may have to engage a lawyer. The government’s starting point is that the State must be able to obtain independent legal advice (a second opinion), certainly in politically and administratively sensitive issues. The Committee is also being asked to look into the options for the government to hire lawyers in whole or in part, or to outsource this work in whole or in part to one or more market parties.
mr. J. Silvis, former Attorney General at the Supreme Court and former judge at the European Court of Human Rights, will chair the committee. The other members of the committee are Prof. DJB de Wolff (professor of the legal profession), DCC van Everdingen (former member of the AFM Supervisory Board and former partner at Stibbe), TM Snoep (Chairman of the ACM and former Chairman of the Board De Brauw) and mr. JAP Veringa (former director of Legislation and Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science).
When composing the committee, the government looked for experts who have experience within or with the legal profession, who are at a sufficient distance to arrive at an independent opinion and who have knowledge of the special position of the State. The committee has been asked to submit the report to the cabinet by 1 December 2022 at the latest. The decision to establish the Law Services Committee will be published in the Government Gazette within a few days.
In addition, the agreement between the State and the State Attorney has been amended pending the advice of the Attorney Services Committee to the State. This was prompted by the recommendations made earlier to the cabinet of Prof. TR Ottervanger and Prof. AB Hoogenboom about the requirements that the State should impose on the State Attorney (in view of the State’s special position). The amended agreement with the State Attorney has been sent to the House of Representatives.